Correspondence with Henrietta Heathorn, 1847-1854

Component identifier:

Series 2

Content Summary:

The correspondence between Huxley and Heathorn dates from October 1847 to November 1854 and comprises 289 letters. In addition, there is a copy of Huxley's diary on HMS Rattlesnake, April – October 1850 (item 128). 127 of the letters were written in 1847-50. In this period Huxley mostly wrote to Heathorn while he was at sea or visiting such places as Moreton Bay, Rockingham Bay, Trinity Bay, Cape York, Port Phillip, the Bay of Islands and the Falkland Islands. A few were written when he was staying in Sydney. Most of his post-Rattlesnake letters were written from London. Heathorn wrote from her home, 'Holmwood', in Newtown, Sydney, except in 1850-53, when she was living in Bathurst.

Huxley's 1847-50 letters refer to shipboard life, the cruises of HMS Rattlesnake in northern waters, his relations with the surgeon John Thomson, the exploring expedition of Edmund Kennedy (1848), his love for Henrietta, Huxley's character, the inadequacies of his education, his views on religion, novels and other books, his departure from Australia, and the return voyage to England via the Bay of Islands in New Zealand and the Falkland Islands. His 1850-54 letters deal with his arrival in England, meetings with William Fanning and other members of Heathorn's family, the problems of his own family, the death of his mother (1852), news of Rattlesnake friends, his election as a fellow of the Royal Society, meetings with Sir Roderick Murchison, Colonel Edward Sabine, Sir John Richardson and other scientists, his efforts to obtain a grant and an academic appointment, lectures at the Royal Institution, meetings of the British Association, the possibility of returning to Australia, and his appointment to posts at the Museum of Economic Geology and the School of Mines (1854). There are no letters dating from 1853.

Heathorn's letters refer to her love for Huxley, her daily routines and reading, family anecdotes, social events, news of revolutions in Europe (1848), her move to Bathurst (1850), the gold rushes, her fear of ticket of leave men, her father's business affairs, her return to Sydney, the dearth of servants, difficulties arising from her long separation from Huxley, a visit from the artist Thomas Woolner (1854), her father's intention of returning to England, and the plans for sailing.

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M896

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